


Departure

by Holladay Street (street)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e05 Chapter Eighteen: When a Stranger Calls, F/M, runaway Bughead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-06-21 09:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15555126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/street/pseuds/Holladay%20Street
Summary: "I wish we could just go. Just hop on the motorcycle and just leave Riverdale. Go someplace where there no Northside or Southside, Serpents or Ghoulies.""No crazy moms, no Black Hoods. Like Romeo and Juliet but we live happily ever after instead."Betty and Jughead weren't the type to give up. Later they would talk about it, circling round and round about whether that night constituted giving up or taking action. But in the moment, they just went.





	1. Pop's

_"I wish we could just go. Just hop on the motorcycle and just leave Riverdale. Go someplace where there no Northside or Southside, Serpents or Ghoulies."_  
_"No crazy moms, no Black Hoods. Like Romeo and Juliet but we live happily ever after instead."_

Betty and Jughead weren't the type to give up. Later they would talk about it, circling round and round about whether that night constituted giving up or taking action. But in the moment, they just went.

 

Even a week before she would have called him crazy. She would have reminded him about FP's release date, and her chemistry midterm, and Hot Dog waiting at the trailer for supper. But when he walked into Pop's she felt like she hadn't seen him in about 20 years. And sitting across from him, watching as the shadows of old bruises played across his face (from a beating of course - anybody who paid attention could tell you those types of contusions weren't caused by a motorcycle accident) she felt the distance of her own lies. And she wondered about his.

"I feel as if we're tempting fate, Juggy. Staying here. It's like whatever's these dark forces are in Riverdale . . . it's like they're keeping us both in the middle of the story on purpose."

She couldn't say any more than that yet. She couldn't risk tell him how very in the spotlight she was. But she had an inkling of the moral compromises he was making for his own safety. And she had a sinking feeling they mirrored her own.

He squeezed her clasped hands with his un-bandaged one. "Do you think we could pull it off without jeopardize our futures? I was waiting to tell you this, but changing schools mid-year may have really fucked up my GPA. I don't want you dealing with that too."

"We'd figure that out." She laughed a little. "If nothing else, this will all make a great college admissions essay."

He took a deep breath, watching their interlaced fingers, then flicked his eyes up to hers. "I can't quite tell . . . are we seriously considering this?"

Her gaze was steady. "I am. Are you Juggy?"

"With you, Betts? 'Hire those horses; I'll be with thee straight'." He squeezed her finger again. "I'm in."

 

She reeled him to a stop by the jean jacket as they left Pop's. She leaned him gently against the wall of the vestibule, and rested their foreheads together. "I'll see you in an hour" she said, "we should both take our ID, and whatever cash we have, and clothes for job interviews as well as staying warm on the bike. And remember a phone charger. Do you have panniers for carrying stuff on the bike?" 

He nodded.

"You fill those up. I'll pack a backpack."

She slid her slim fingers up his scalp under his hat, and kissed him.

 

_To be continued . . ._


	2. Preparation

Her house felt malicious somehow. Now that they's made the decision to leave it felt easier to notice the stresses around her, rather than just keeping her head down. And somehow, even with her parents upstairs asleep, the house just felt  _off_.

Betty pulled up the master packing list google doc she'd made years ago. There wasn't any time to copy and customize it the way she usually did when she traveled, but she felt betting having something to work from. She stopped herself from packing things that would be easy to buy or borrow - her shampoo, an extra towel - but she did end up with two novels nestled alongside her laptop, padded by clothes. It had started raining and she didn't have anything to keep her legs dry on the bike, but she layered leggings and kneesocks under her jeans and hoped for the best. She was about to slip down to the basement for the hiking first aid kit and a space blanket when she heard the back door open. She rushed to cram the backpack and jacket under her bed, and climb into bed with a textbook. 

A few minutes later her door opened a crack. Her mother usually barged in, so she looked up from the chapter of phychology she'd been staring at, softly calling "hi Daddy".

"You're up late, Betty." He came in and sat on the foot of her bed, craning his neck to see what she was reading.

"I have a test on Thursday" she lied. "Did you put the paper to bed?"

"I did. Your mother and I finished up earlier, but I wanted to re-check some things. You should have been studying this week instead of writing your little exposé - do you really think you can afford to take attention away from your school work over all this nonsense, Betty?" He shifted toward her a little.

She focused on keeping her breath steady. "I know I should focus more on school, Daddy. I'm sorry." She flipped the textbook open again, hoping he'd take a hint.

After he left she waited a long time before she heard his snores.


	3. Setting Out

It was an hour later than Betty had planned when she finally felt safe slipping out of bed, hefting her backpack, and easing down the stairs. Standing in the shadows by the front door she took the house key off her keyring before thinking better of it. She ached to leave some kind of statement of her departure - a signal that she was washing her hands of this messed up little town - but knew she couldn't afford it. An ambiguous exit would buy them more time.

She put the house key back on her keyring and tip-toed to the kitchen. She tucked a box of granola bars and two apples into her backpack, and fished through the jar of small bills her mother kept for tipping food deliveries pocketing two fives. She paused, staring at the small whiteboard by their fridge and fiddling with a marker. Finally she printed "I have extra cheer practice, then exam prep with Veronica. I packed my toothpaste and meds -might stay with her tonight. Love love! -B" Her mother liked a neat kitchen, so as the note got read Betty knew it would be erased without a though. She nodded to herself, capped the marker, and slipped across the living room and out the front door.

 

 **11:28pm Betty:** Out front. Where are u?

 **11:34pm Juggy:** Dad's on a binge here I can't get away yet

 **11:49pm Juggy:** omw

 

Betty had tucked herself into the steps up to the Andrews' front yard, where she could keep a good view of the street without being seen from her parents' bedroom window. She was cold by the time she heard a motorcycle stop at the top of her block, so when she spotted Jughead she started jogging up the hill toward him, to get some heat back into her muscles before the ride ahead.

They kissed at the bike. Small pecks against each others lips and cheeks, a little breathless and a little raw.  
"Hi" Betty said "You ok?"  
"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I couldn't get Dad to quite down" Jughead murmured back. "I brought you something to stay warm on the bike".  
Jughead pulled a black leather jacket out of his bike pannier handed it to Betty. "It was my mom's."  
"Oh Juggy, that's so thoughtful of you. Are you sure you're ok with me wearing her clothes?"  
Jughead just nodded, and zipped the jacket up carefully once Betty put it on.

 

They took the calculated risk to stop at an ATM before leaving Riverdale rather than leave a trail of transactions out of town. Betty took off the leather jacket and her backpack and tried to look nonchalant as she came into range of the security camera, wishing in that moment that her jobs paid under the table in cash the way Jughead's did. They finally got situated for the ride ahead. They didn't talk as Jughead kicked the bike to life and cruised quietly around the corner and away from main street. Betty slipped her hands into Jughead's jacket pockets, feeling calmer than she had all night with the cozy shearling across her knuckles and Jughead's warm body under her palms. 

They wound through the North Side, staying on busier streets where the sound of a motorcycle past midnight wouldn't be out of place. Finally, they were outside the town limits and Betty started smelling the deep pine woods and occasional horse paddock as they headed Greendale and the state border.

The thrum of the bike and the rhythm of the curving road were comforting, and Betty could feel them both start to relax. But just as they reached a bridge Jughead hit the breaks. There was a truck parked across the roadway; someone was waiting for them.  _To be continued . . ._

**Author's Note:**

> Italics are direct quotes from the episode. And Jughead's later quote is a line of Romeo's. No infringement intended, simply playing in the Riverdale sandbox.


End file.
